you're for sale

the economy is improving, for corporations, but wages aren't keeping pace with inflation. some refer to this as a jobless recovery. business is getting more efficient, getting more out of its workers, and due to globalisation (or, rather, global interconnectedness), the labor market is enormous, much larger than the number of available jobs. to make matters worse, rising oil prices are pushing up transportation costs which will, eventually, drive up prices across the board. this means you'll be making less and paying more for. americans aren't saving money, instead investing in property or pushing their debt limits because of low interest rates. this has to change or we're all going to be in trouble. neither does it help that the federal government is fiscally irresponsible. though despite tax cuts the government is due to bring in higher tax revenues and reduce its deficit somewhat, spending is still through the roof. case in point: the highway bill bush recently signed. it costs taxpayers about $280 million (i completely forget the numbers right now so i could be way off), of which about $100 million are going to pet projects for senators and representatives (known popularly as pork) to boost their support among their constituents rather than serve any practical purpose. politicans are spending your money to keep themselves in power. anyone who sponsors such crap should get voted out, but you'll never do it because your vote is for sale.

talk to your enemy

how'd a republican have such a good idea? i wholly agree. engage in diplomatic relations, show we can be trusted. don't threaten to attck. we can't possibly do it. do you think iran believes it? right next door they have a disaster of our making. there's no way in hell we can threaten them too.

shoot the thief, not the messenger

i'm beginning to think john roberts is going to work out ok. hype aside, i think he'll be boring and uneventful. and, it's hard to stop his nomination anyway, so let's just get it over with.

though, i would like the president to stop blocking information. we have the most secretive administration since nixon, and you see what he got us. we have laws allowing people access to information so we know how our government is run. the bush administration has circumvented most of that and kept secret it's reasoning for policy decisions. or it has lied to us about them. energy policy? war in iraq? pork-filled highway bill? we live in a kakistocracy. at least it's not a kleptocracy.

politics as usual (wasting money again)

another nightmare of fiscal irresponsibility (and political pandering from the same people who brought you the war in iraq and the nation's biggest budget deficit.

tom delay is a terrorist

i got this in an email (you can tell because it uses capital letters), but i want to pass it out because of some of the stuff it does. a) it gives out my tax money in ways that directly oppose the energy conservation and development of renewable energy principles on which i stand b) "relaxes the rules on
export of bomb-grade uranium"!!!!! and we're worried about iran? take a look at your own government, people. all those senators and representatives and judges and presidential hangers-on, they've got nuke-proof bunkers to which they can escape. not that a government does them much good when the country's been wiped out, but at least then they can rebuild the world in their own images. corruption at the highest levels, insincerity and evil everywhere.

It seems like everyday there's more bad news coming out of Washington -- today's recess appointment of John Bolton is a case in point. On Friday, our movement for an America that reflects our values suffered a particularly devastating blow -- Congress passed a terrible energy bill. This legislation makes us more dependent on dirty energy, and hands out billions of unnecessary corporate pork along the way.

The bill gives away more than $8.5 billion in tax breaks over the next 10 years to oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear power, and electric utilities. The nuclear industry alone gets $1.5 billion in direct subsidies, $2 billion in "risk insurance," and loan guarantees for future new reactor construction.

But as if that wasn't enough, Representative Tom DeLay managed to slip a provision into the bill at the very last minute to enrich an oil and gas consortium in his district to the tune of $1 billion. Another last-minute addition to the bill (incredibly) relaxes the rules on export of bomb-grade uranium in order to benefit a single medical isotope manufacturer based in Canada.

passing the wand of moral corruption

with the death of king fahd, it is now again time for the leaders of western democracies to kiss the ass of an oppressive absolute monarch. never mind that the house of saud promotes a version of islam that is diametrically opposed to western values, or that the terrorists who seek to destroy america and the west have their roots and financial backing in saudi arabia, the country has most of the world's oil, and we can't live without it. frankly, i find the house of saud deeply cynical for all this, but i also think the enthusiasm with which america pursues oil dependence rather than conservation and energy sources alternative to oil shows either greater cynicism or extream short-sightedness. the american energy policy only reinforces my belief that america is run by greedy pigs who think of nothing but their own personal enrichment and don't give a rat's ass about the american people, especially the poor and working classes. if dick cheney and his halliburton cronies can make lots of money off it, then american policies will be skewed towards supporting that.

we have to figure out a way to make women's rights, freedom, democracy, and renewable energy grossly profitable.